Valentina Cicerchia 1 Literature

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3year Subject: Literature II Teacher: Di bernardo, Cristina Student: Cicerchia, Valentina

Valentina Cicerchia 2 Literature 1) Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens: y As you read the following review, enlarge the main concepts.

Oliver Twist is a novel based on the social realities of England in 1830. Dealing with burglary, kidnapping, child abuse, prostitution and murder Oliver Twist is one of Charles Dickens darkest works. Olivers mother dies when he is born, so he spends his first nine years in a home for young orphans. After that he is taken to a workhouse for adults. He suffers from bullying and he is forced to ask for more food. As a result, the parish beadle offers money to anyone who can take Oliver away from the workhouse. He goes to Mr.Sowerberrys house but he has some problems with other apprentice so he decides to run away to London. When Oliver arrives in London, he meets Jack Dawkins, who presents him to Fagin. These men and Sikes and Monks are burglars who abuse of a group of children who have become a band of pickpockets. While living with them, Oliver becomes part of the gang and meets Bet and Nancy, two women with free and agreeable manners. They are the childrens friends and they also live a difficult life. Oliver is kidnapped by Fagin who leaves him locked up in the house for days and Nancy dies after Sikes beats her to death. At the end, the characters who are evil have a dark future while those character who are good and can hardly comprehend evil gain a happy life and a prosperous future. This piece of work gives an introduction of the most contradicting aspects in human character. Every single character represents a social group and is used in order to criticize the Victorian age. Oliver, for example, does not present a complex picture of a person torn between good and evil, he is goodness incarnate. To summarize, this novel deals with the different aspects of the Victorian society, the reality of the 1830s

England which was rapidly undergoing a transformation from an agricultural, rural economy to an urban, industrial nation. Olivers journey from the workhouse to London is a perfect context to describe it.
2) The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York, Mariner: Who lived Eight and Twenty Years, all alone in an un-inhabited Island on the Coast of America, near the Mouth of the Great River of Oroonoque; Having been cast on Shore by Shipwreck, wherein all the Men perished but himself. With An Account how he was at last as strangely deliverd by Pyrates. By Daniel Defoe.

Valentina Cicerchia 3 Literature y Fully describe Robinson Crusoe and Friday, and the kind of relationship they establish. In 1719, Daniel Defoe published Robinson Crusoe. This novel is about imperialism, religion and self-awareness. Robinson, a young middle-class English man, spends twenty eight years on a remote island dealing with cannibals, storms and isolation. His journey starts several years before when he decided to go to sea instead of studying law as it was his father desire. Friday is a twenty-six-year-old native who becomes Robinsons servant after the Englishman saves him from a cannibal tribe. Robinson and Friday have a very special relationship. From the beginning, Robinson plays the role of the master while Friday becomes his servant. Robinson is the one to decide to name the native Friday; he does not even care in asking him what his name is. During their time together Friday is taught to speak in English and he is even taught to use a gun and kill people of his own tribe. Although they have a special relationship they are different in many aspects. They come from different cultures and have different religions. Robinson is incapable of perceiving deep feelings while Friday is more sincere, more emotional, colorful and charismatic. Robinson is crueller, particularly when he talks about his wife. Friday shows his feelings when he meets his father. To sum up, the novel is used to describe the relationship between the Englishmen and the natives and the relation of domination and submission between them. 3) A Passage to India by Edward Morgan Forster A Passage to India, written by Forster in 1924, is a novel about discrimination, friendship, cultural gap and religion. Its primary concern is the shift in Dr. Azizs views of the British from accommodating and even submission to an aggressively anti-colonial stance. Adela Quested is a young English woman who comes to India because she has the intention of marrying Ronny Heaslop, the Chandrapore city magistrate. At first she is well intentioned towards India and nave about the nature of relations between Anglo-Indians and Indians. She is well educated but short sighted. In India she meets Dr. Aziz, a young doctor who works at the governmental hospital in Chandrapore. He is a muslim and a widower. At first he is impetious and flighty, honest and hospitable. But, as the story develops, he starts to change his mind. Adela and professor Fielding try to make friends with Dr. Aziz but there are some things that are necessary so that a friendship can be created and in their case there exist some cultural barriers that make the friendship to be almost impossible:

Valentina Cicerchia 4 Literature ideology, prejudices, identity, religion, beliefs, etc. The British and the Indians come from two different worlds and even though people from both countries try to get on with each other, they realize that integration cannot be done.